Telematics adoption has crept up to 44% and is as high as 78% in the utility fleet industry, according to a new report by Heavy Duty Trucking magazine publisher Bobit Business Media and sponsored by GPS Insight.

The Fleet Management Technology Report sent out a survey asking a series of questions to Bobit fleet subscribers pertaining to fleet management and telematics to examine the current state of the marketplace. The survey received a total of 614 respondents and provided insight into the key areas of telematics adoption, providers, benefits and return on investment.

The telematics industry is continuing to grow steadily as fleets are finding more valuable insights within different applications. Comparing the numbers to a previous Fleet Management Technology Report survey done in 2013 shows that the most significant increase in adoption over the three-year span was in fleets with 26-350 vehicles.

Fleets in western states also tended to have higher adoption rates than in other regions at 57%. The Midwest had the lowest adoption rates at just 38%.

The report also asked fleet managers why they have decided not to implement telematics, with budgetary concerns being the top reason at 31% of respondents.

Among fleets that do use telematics, better integration was the most wished for feature from a telematics provider. When choosing a telematics provider, fleets put a higher value on services that provided ease of use, customer service, and better cellular service coverage.

In the end, the report found that most fleets that used telematics tended to feel that the systems benefitted their fleet overall, and most felt that the benefits were greater than they expected before implementing telematics.

Bobit's fleet publications, in addition to HDT, include Automotive Fleet, Work Truck, Business Fleet, Green Fleet, and Government Fleet.

The entire report is available for free from GPS Insight.